Month / March 2019

by Bronson

Me Drama Notes :)))

Hello everyone, I am your director, Bronson Toghill and today we will be presenting the conventions of Bertolt Brecht and how he may apply his style of dramatic theatre to King Leah, a play written by William Shakespeare. The purpose of this is to demonstrate what a play that does not use brechtian conventions turns into when these conventions are applied.

Now before I show off these features I will go through a brief outline of who Bertolt Brecht is and how his life influenced his style of theatre. Brecht’s style heavily focused on the message that the production was trying to present to the audience. The characters were merely crutches used as a tool to present Brecht’s theme and were no means the subject of the performance. The message that Brecht would try to exhibit very topical ideas, ideas that were challenging and showed real world social and political meaning and it was quite challenging.

This concept of focusing on the social context lead to strong alienation within the performance, you weren’t supposed to become invested in a character, you’re not supposed to suspend your disbelief. What you see in a Brechtian style play is not realism. So many of Brecht’s techniques involved this concept of alienation and the features I will be discussing Narration, stereotypes, episodic structure, signs and song. Alienation is an important word to remember as all these features that I have brought up all revolve around it.

Now in this workshop, I would like to demonstrate how Brecht may apply his theatre techniques to the Shakespearean play; King Leah. I have chosen this play to demonstrate Brechtian features because it has very strong overarching themes that are quite hard to grasp onto because unless you truly dissect it, themes, themes such as injustice and blindness to the truth will be what I will be hoping to emphasise today. The characters are what the audience latches onto however with a brechtian style we characters lose focus and we become involved with the the commentary of the play.

Example 1: Narration

The first Brechtian technique I would like to show is narration. Narration is a commentary that directly tells the audience what is happening, it may provide contextual understanding of the setting, maybe give us some insight into what the character is thinking or just literally saying what is occurring in this very scene. Narration is a useful Brechtian tool to enhance the idea of alienation because it constantly reminds us that we are watching a production, we are not to empathise with these characters, we are to observe them for the message of the play. I have chosen this feature as I believe it to be the pinnacle of alienation. I’m going to demonstrate two versions of the same scene. I would now like to ask my volunteers to come up and help me demonstrate this. One version of the scene will be acted regularly using realism and then the second version will be performed using Narration the way Brecht would and hopefully this will help us to understand what a piece may look like with a Brecht style. Here we have a scene where in the play, King Lear is asking his daughters to express their love for him and the most loving daughter will receive the greatest amount of share in the kingdom. Upon asking Cordelia, his most faithful and honest daughter, the interaction goes as follows;

KING LEAR

The vines of France and milk of Burgundy

Strive to be interess’d; what can you say to draw

A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.

CORDELIA

Nothing, my lord.

KING LEAR

Nothing!

CORDELIA

Nothing.

KING LEAR

Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.

CORDELIA

Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave

My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty

According to my bond; nor more nor less.

KING LEAR

How, how, Cordelia! mend your speech a little,

Lest it may mar your fortunes.

Alrighty, now that we’ve seen how this have been performed normally, now coming up we will see a tweaked version of the same scene of the play, here the volunteers will have the same script however between lines I will be narrating everything that happens.

——————————————————————————————————————————–

King Lear stares eagerly at his most beloved daughter, ‘Cordelia.’ After hearing the “grand” praises given to him from his other two daughters, he can only imagine what Cordelia might say

KING LEAR

The vines of France and milk of Burgundy

Strive to be interess’d; what can you say to draw

A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.

—————————————————————————————————————————–

Cordelia stands there disgruntled, knowing how false the worlds coming from her sister’s mouths were. She feels disappointed in her father for having to need her approval this bad.

CORDELIA

Nothing, my lord.

——————————————————————————————————————————–

Nothing? Lear is shocked to hear this. How could she be so stubborn? Little does he know that by Cordelia not exaggerating her love, that she is actually being the most loyal and genuine.

KING LEAR

Nothing!

——————————————————————————————————————————–

Cordelia straightens her posture and boldly reinforces her point to Lear as she does not want to hide her true feelings:

CORDELIA

Nothing.

——————————————————————————————————————————–

Internally, Lear knows better of Cordelia. He doesn’t want to dismiss her so quickly. He really wants to know how much she loves him. Part of him would prefer if she was dishonest, if it were to boost his ego

KING LEAR

Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.

——————————————————————————————————————————–

She must be honest, there is too much deception in this world. She gracefully explains to Lear why she feels this way

CORDELIA

Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave

My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty

According to my bond; nor more nor less.

——————————————————————————————————————————–

Lear just wants to give Cordelia the opportunity to rule some part of the land even though now, he realises it’s futile

KING LEAR

How, how, Cordelia! mend your speech

Lest it may mar your fortunes

——————————————————————————————————————————–

Now thank you for that volunteers, now that you guys have seen how those two scenes have played out, I want to discuss how this technique changed the extract to become more Brechtian. As we discussed earlier, we really want the audience to feel disconnected and alienated from the piece and by adding narration to the extract all of a sudden we lose immersion, we become strongly aware that we are watching a play. All of a sudden, a theme like ‘being blind to the truth’ becomes exemplified. With the use of this tool, we are more perceptive into how these characters think, now the play is telling you that, now the audience is focusing less on the character interaction and more on the themes surrounding them. The idea of Lear being blind to the truth is obvious as the narrator is constantly reinforcing it. This should also hopefully highlight Lear’s Hamartia or Fatal Flaw which is his excessive pride because in the narration, it is claimed that he would be okay with her being dishonest if it inflated his ego, and that is truthful to the original play, we just care less about Lear as a character and more of what he is preaching. The narrator was literally telling you what was happening, even though there was already realistic character dialogue. The characters feel less relatable and you detach from them however in doing so, the theme is presented to you more full on. In a normal viewing of King Lear, it’s so easy to get lost in the plot and characters, that unless explained to you, the themes can easily fly over your head.

Example 2: Stereotypes

The next feature I will be discussing is stereotypes. Stereotypes can be explained as overgeneralization of certain groups of people. This can be displayed through movement mannerisms or dialogue quirks. A lot of the time that you hear about stereotypes in the real world, they are used negatively however Brecht turns stereotypes into a very effective tool to (once again) alienate the audience. Once again we are detaching ourselves from the characters as they feel less realistic and individual characters stop feeling imports and this results in the audience better understanding a theme. Now once again I will get my volunteers to demonstrate how this scene looks normally versus with Brechtian features, the volunteers will be doing their best to exemplify how a Stereotypical old senile man would talk and how a stereotypical noble woman during the elizabethan times would act.

KING LEAR

What place this is; and all the skill I have

Remembers not these garments; nor I know not

Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me;

For, as I am a man, I think this lady

To be my child Cordelia.

CORDELIA

And so I am, I am.

KING LEAR

Be your tears wet? yes, ‘faith. I pray, weep not:

If you have poison for me, I will drink it.

I know you do not love me; for your sisters

Have, as I do remember, done me wrong:

You have some cause, they have not.

CORDELIA

No cause, no cause.

KING LEAR

Am I in France?

Using stereotypes makes these characters feel so unrelatable and distant. The mannerisms used are meant to make audiences feel as if this were unrealistic and that the writer had never met a women and just made up a role based on his knowledge on society. I believe that this application of stereotypes in this scene strongly highlights the injustice that has occured in the play. The fact that Lear’s old and senile acting is more apparent makes us realise how easy it was for his other two daughters to manipulate him, even though it’s Lears fault for having excessive pride, we can see through the stereotype of ‘old men all being clueless’ how easy it was for the people around him to leech onto his own flaws. For Cordelia, we can also see that she experiences injustice by being a victim of her time period, where by being honest and loyal, her sex limits her to being able to really have a place in the world. Only by dishonest means were her sisters able to obtain the land/power that they did. Stereotypes also help display injustice because they within themselves are injustice. What I mean by this is that although the tool highlights that theme, the tool itself is a metaphor for injustice because by portraying these characters in such a way is a disservice to the group of people that identify in a similar manner. The audience better understands the injustice in the play because the portrayal of certain groups of people is injustice in its own right.

Example 3: Freeze frame

It was not uncommon for a Brechtian performance to just go still. This is known as a freeze frame and it was a convention used to highlight a certain moment in a scene that’s particularly important or symbolic. This could be an opportunity to get a character to break the fourth wall and talk to the audience or it could just be a still that really makes the audience reflect what is going on. Freeze frames really break the flow of the piece and is another reminder to the audience that they’re just watching a play. It’s very difficult to become attached to the characters and world of the play when it is starting and stopping. If you were to do a freeze frame on a particular moment it can be quite powerful and makes any theme obvious. The way I will be presenting this is during the final scene where Lear enters with a deceased Cordelia in his arms. At the end of Lear’s harrowing speech.

Re-enter KING LEAR, with CORDELIA dead in his arms;

KING LEAR

Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones:

Had I your tongues and eyes, I’ld use them so

That heaven’s vault should crack. She’s gone for ever!

I know when one is dead, and when one lives;

She’s dead as earth. Lend me a looking-glass;

If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,

Why, then she lives

Now that we’ve seen that, we can see how powerful a still image is. The intent of making this extract a freeze frame acts as a reflection of the events that we have seen. We have a moment to just sit and think about the pain Lear is in right now. We reflect on the innocence lost and what the world has come to while we just sit and observe the grief in Lear’s expression. We may feel distant from the play but the themes hit us harder than ever. The theme of injustice could not come across more perfectly than it does there. And then later after this King Lear dies of grief. This freeze frame can be a symbol of how cold and ‘frozen’ his heart becomes.

Example 4: Signs

Another Brecht concept I will investigate is how he used ‘Signage’ in his plays. Signs are messages/words that were used to tell the audience what something literally was. Like a character might have “farmer” attached to him. Or a scene would be named and an actor would be holding the sign until the next scene. Sign is a very effective tool for alienation because in realism, characters and scene wouldn’t just be wearing a piece of playcard that told us who they were or where they were. We become disconnected by being constantly aware that we are watching a play. I will now bring back my volunteers and I will display a scene where Lear is in the wild during a storm with The Fool and he is taking off his clothes, in this scene I have labelled Lear as “King” but with “Senile old Man” hidden under it. While the Fool is labelled as ‘Truth Wielder” and while this happens there will be a another sign telling the Audience the setting.

KING LEAR

Ha! here’s three on

‘s are sophisticated! Thou art the thing itself:

unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor bare,

forked animal as thou art. Off, off, you lendings!

come unbutton here.

Take’s off Sign

Fool

Prithee, nuncle, be contented; ’tis a naughty night

to swim in. Now a little fire in a wild field were

like an old lecher’s heart; a small spark, all the

rest on’s body cold. Look, here comes a walking fire.

Now that we’ve seen that we can see how unnatural it is to have characters with signs on them that tell us their role. Now the reason why I think that this scene is an excellent application of signage is because of how it portrays the characters. King Lear hides behind his title of King but as he strips his clothes off, he symbolises how he has fallen down the Great Chain of Being, which is essentially a hierarchy of power, once a king now the same worth of a peasant. In the real play Lear would have taken his clothes off but here the sign tell us the symbol directly. This is the alienation effect.

Example 5: Song

The final Brechtian tool I would like to show off will the the use of song. Song is traditionally used in theatre as music to help convey emotion, establish a mood or as a storytelling device and Brecht did use song in this sense however when he included it in his work it was used a bit of a more unique way. If you were watching a play that was discussing various social issues that plagued society than all of a sudden the actors burst out into song in dance than that would be extremely alienating, this is what Brecht intended to do however he would add an extra layer of alienation by making the song feel so out of place in the actual context of the play, like maybe if it were a really sad scene he would play cheerful music and then all of a sudden you once again realise you’re watching a play. This can often bring out the message as well through irony or critical thinking. To demonstrate this feature, I have created a video where in the play, the Earl of Gloucester is getting his eyes plucked out and the song “I can see clearly now” by Jimmy Cliff

Now that we have seen that, I will now discuss how this feature changed the narrative of the scene. If we had been watching this play through its entirety we would’ve felt very estranged and then once we had heard the positive sound and lyrics ESPECIALLY during the climax of the play, it would actually be quite humorous. But there’s a reason why I chose this song in particular, is that the lyrics state “I can see clearly now” and in the scene Gloucester is literally having his eyes plucked out and it’s really offbeat to hear during such a serious and disturbing scene. However this tool helps us delve deeping into the meaning of the play. Earlier I talked about how Brechtian features may enhance themes and one of those themes was “being blind to the truth” well in this part of King Lear, the plucking of Gloucester’s eyes is a symbol for how he can finally see the truth and that’s ironic because he can only see now that he’s blind. Originally Gloucester cannot see the deceitfulness that his son Edmund until he full on plucks his eyes out and he realises that his other son Edgar, who Edmund claimed was plotting against him was loyal the whole time. Another lyrics from the song is “gone are the dark clouds that made me blind” and this further highlights the irony that the song gives to us and a once disturbing scene now becomes more impactful and more obvious to realise the themes. This lyrics is particularly insightful as in the parallel plot line with Lear, the storm symbolises his ongoing insanity, the dark clouds for Glocester could be his internal gullibility and now that he is no longer gullible he can see.

Sources: http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~jamesf/goodwoman/brecht_epic_theater.html

by Bronson

Lizzy Beth Times

The important thing to consider when considering how an Elizabethan audience would interpret a Shakespeare play is what the common beliefs were at the time. Many followed Protestantism which means they heavily reflected and believed in the religious themes within the play. The great chain being seems unimportant to a modern day audience however the immediate breaking of the chain would have been shocking for an Elizabethan audience as it goes against everything they know. To them, no one shall be greater than the king so when Lear falls down the chain to the same level as plant, it’s really crazy.

People of the time also had very sexist beliefs, it was okay to hit your wife, they were all house maids and the female characters were all acted by males because females couldn’t have a role in society outside of the traditional wife life. This sexism would have influenced the way they interpreted the performance. When they see a female character doing something empowering or outside what they were expected than it was uncomfortable, confronting and off-putting. From a modern day audience’s perspective, our thoughts on Lear turn negative rather soon into the play and even though we know the Goneril and Regan are bad, we don’t see their actions of locking Lear out of the castle as unjustified, however for the Elizabethan audience would think that this is foul play on their behalf.

The reason why a lot of the acting was very script heavy with every line explaining in detail what a character was doing is because the production didn’t have advanced technology or even a large budget. So lighting would have been regular room lighting, actors had to speak loudly as theaters could be rather large and there would be plenty of people talking in the audience.

by Bronson

King Lear: Character

The reason why Lear is true to the ‘tragic hero’ trope is because he fulfills all of the five characteristics. His error of judgement is his inability to judge sincerity within his daughters when he divides his land. This is his hamartia, he would rather be lied to if it meant feeding his ego. His intentions when splitting up his land are good intentions however his error of judgement gets the better of him which has a snowball effect leading to his characters fall. His hamartia leads directly into his peripetia.

His reversal of fortune is when he is kicked out of his castle and is forced to survive in the wild. Here we see how all of actions have lead to him being banished from his own kingdom, then time after another we see him break and reconnect with the world, only to break again. He used to rule England, now we see him completely naked. He was once at the top of the great chain of being, now he’s completely fallen off and is at the bottom, his flower crown symbolises how he percieves himself as less valuable than plant life (which is at the very bottom of the great chain). He’s gone from riches to rags, a complete reversal of fortune.

Lear’s recognition, that helps him fit the tragic hero role, occurs right as Cordelia has died. His most treasured and lovely daughter has fallen at the expense of his own actions and now those actions are confronting him directly. It’s not until he’s lost everything that’s truly important to him, that he can realise how much it meant to him. It is truly painful to see what he has done to Cordelia.
Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones:
Had I your tongues and eyes, I’ld use them so
That heaven’s vault should crack. She’s gone for ever! He say’s howl because he is howling in pain at his grief over his lost daughter.

An example of Lear’s hamartia is also his hubris, which is his excessive pride. This is quite a defining fatal flaw

by Bronson

King Lear: Thought

If presented in an effective manner, thought is a very effective devise for an audience to understand. An idea can impact an audience through writing by making them strongly reflect on what that idea really means in a real world context. The idea can takes us out of our comfort zone and makes us reflect on a certain issue that we may have never considered, or even show a prevalent social context from a different perspective. This is all over modern day media/entertainment as we as a society are finding it more relevant to talk about issues. During Elizabethan times, talking about society’s faults wouldn’t have been common so seeing a play where themes hit you so hard and are so relevant would have been really impactful.

Shakespeare’s take on human nature is that there is no one who can surpass flaw, not even royalty. Lear is a king and with that, we wouldn’t be stupid to think that he is rather exemplary, however the further we get into the play, the more his flaws are revealed. He see how prideful and wrathful he is with his actions and how human he really is. An Elizabethan audience would traditionally believe royalty to be perfect humans, incapable of flaw. Shakespeare is able to reveal the flaw that every human is capable of.

Justice is another theme discussed in King Lear, the character that experiences the greatest level of injustice would be Cordelia. She is honest, faithful and is although, expresses it the least, actually loves her father the most. Her honesty is what gets her banished and as a flow on from that, killed. This is an interesting thought to provoke in an audience as we can think critically as to how this theme applies in our real world. In our world there are countless of examples of people get wrongly accused for things they didn’t do, or a just treated wrongly through vice of the society we’ve created. I personally believe injustice to one of the most cathartic thought device in literature. When I think of times where a text has made me upset, it can comeback to the theme of injustice. For example, The Green Mile is a movie that is very well known for its sad ending. What makes it so sad is how we see how gentle and kind that John is, however he is predetermined to be killed because its his word as a negro, against a white persons word. This is injustice at its purist and as an audience, it can feel like a dagger through the chest seeing this. King Lear is absolutely the same. As Lear walks out with Cordelia, dead in his arms, it is harrowing, we know she didn’t deserve this fate. She was and only had good intentions and we as an audience feel the pain of the injustice that has occurred. Feeling that pain makes it easier to reflect on our real world.

“Nothing shall come of nothing” is a quote that bears a heavy theme that is constantly visited and revisited in King Lear. The quote is ironic in a way, because as the play progresses we learn that everything comes of nothing. What this means is that there can be dire consequences for doing nothing in a situation.

by Bronson

King Lear: Diction

An important example of when diction is used in King Lear is when characters switch from verse to prose. Since diction is the choice of words and phrases in speech and writing, so when characters are switching between the two types of speech it feels fairly obvious and this has a strong purpose within the play, lemme explain. When speech is done in verse, it shows nobility, that’s why we see it most often in Shakespeare as most of the characters are of high power and are considered superior to the average citizen of the time. So prose was very infrequent in the play, however we do see it and that’s during when characters begin their downfall. The most obvious example is with Lear himself, during the exposition and rising action we see him talk exclusively in verse, however it’s when he exits to the storm, we begin to see his mental deterioration, as he continues to ‘fall from grace,’ the more he begins to enter prose speaking.

King Lear is the most obvious character who switches between verse and prose. Here is an interaction between Lear and Gloucester, where Lear is originally talking in prose however later changes his speech to be more verse.

What, art mad? A man may see how this world goes
with no eyes. Look with thine ears: see how yond
justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark, in
thine ear: change places; and, handy-dandy, which
is the justice, which is the thief? Thou hast seen
a farmer’s dog bark at a beggar?

GLOUCESTER

Ay, sir.

KING LEAR

And the creature run from the cur? There thou
mightst behold the great image of authority: a
dog’s obeyed in office.
Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand!
Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip thine own back;
Thou hotly lust’st to use her in that kind
For which thou whipp’st her. The usurer hangs the cozener.

I chose this extract because it occurs after Lear has re-entered civilization. Before this moment, Lear had been in the wilderness and was loosing his sanity and it was as if he had forgotten who he was or how he was supposed to act. So once he begins to interact with Gloucester he is able to quickly snap back into sanity. Lear battles with his sanity and Shakespeare uses diction to display this. For an Elizabethan Audience, this improper speaking would be very noticeable, particularity when for so long, all the characters have spoken in verse.

by Bronson

King Lear: Melody + Spectacle

Examples where Melody and Spectacle are used in King Lear include the storm. The storm is a sound in the play that is used to foreshadow unearthly events to come. We first hear of the storm as King Lear is exiting his castle after he feel betrayed by his daughters. This is used to literally portray the weather but there are also other implications such as Lear’s mental state and to signify danger to come. Every time we enter a scene with Lear the play reminds us that the storm is continuing to rage, just like how Lear’s mental is continuing to deteriorate.

The fool uses song / melody throughout the play as a tool to convey his message. It almost acts as a disguise to the heavy truth that he bares. The fool’s role in the play is to be telling Lear the hidden truth occurring in his actions and how others may be deceiving him. Because fools are supposed to be comedians for the king to laugh at, no one takes his message at face value. When he sings certain lines it is very easy to dismiss it but it’s only when we see the events unfold we understand the wisdom that he is sharing.

Another example of sound used in King Lear is when trumpets or horns. These are a symbol of power. Examples of when these sounds occur are when the king enters a room or one of the princesses. This shows off their status and that their entrance is notable.

Spectacle is most commonly used as costume as characters are constantly creating disguises to be in the same room as another character without that character knowing. This changes the play as it allows for many plot points to occur. For example, almost all of the cast believes that Kent has been exiled and that they’ll never see him again, however he is present in many of the scenes. This allows him to still know what is going on and characters reveal plot points to him because they think it’s a totally different person. It shows off Lear’s mental demise as Edgar disguises himself as ‘Poor Tom’ who is a homeless naked person.
Who gives any thing to poor Tom? whom the foul
fiend hath led through fire and through flame, and
through ford and whirlipool e’er bog and quagmire; Poor Tom entering Lear’s hovel shows how far he has fallen. It shows how he now perceives himself to that of equal or lesser worth as this worthless peasant.

by Bronson

Aristotle’s Poetics

What does Aristotle mean by “imitation of action?” Explain

Acting

Aristotle lists six traits that determine the quality of a tragedy, what are they?

Plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle and song

Is there anything else you think might be important to creating a quality tragedy?

Na

To Aristotle, which trait is the most important: plot or character?

He thinks plot

Why does he think that?

“But most important of all is the structure of incidents. For tragedy an imitation

Do you agree or disagree?

What does Aristotle suggest here about causation and plot structure?

That it must have a beginning, middle and end

What does Aristotle say about unity of action?

That events will happen no matter who the characters are

Subplots?

No they don’t. “The imitation os one when the object imitated is one, so the plot being imitation of an action, must imitate one action and that a whole”

How does Aristotle define peripeteia and anagnorisis?

“Recognition, then. Being between persons, it may happen that one persdon omis is recognised by th other- when the latter is alreadt knwon-or it mayy be neccessary that the recogmition should be on borth sides.

What is the connection between them?

They are in sequence

What kind of reversal is best for evokling pity or fear?

Agaon we may recognise or discover whether a operson has done a thing or not, But the recognition which is most intimately connected with the plot and action isl, as  we hjave saif t, te recognition

1:  ???

2: Characters revealing plot points

3: When they remember something by looking at a certain object

4: When the sequence of events all adds up and everything clicks

The startling discovery that is made from natural means.

Paraphrase aristotle’s explanation of catharsis

What circumstances provoke fear or pity